By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish public school system began preparing for the upcoming school year with five days of leadership training seminars this week at Emily C. Watkins Elementary School.

The seminars, funded through Title II and other state programs, kicked off with a talk from Saints Special Teams Coach Greg McMahon before getting down to business with a workshop led by Joann Quinn and Dr. Clif St. Germain that continued the ideas of motion leadership.

The motion leadership seminars continued through today, and according to Superintendent Courtney Millet, they built on the groundwork that was laid during leadership training during the 2009-10 school year.

One new idea that was introduced, however, was that of learning walks. Millet said the walks are not meant to be evaluations but rather a way for teachers to observe what other teachers are doing, thereby increasing the collaborative efforts throughout the district.

“This is the next step in the process,” said Millet.

The last two days will consist of seminars for principals only. Tomorrow, Millet will discuss the Principal Handbook and Schoolwide Best Practices. The final day will focus on technology with a seminar called “Apple Technology: Vision and Planning for 21st Century Learning Environments.”

“Our goal is to build that coherency across the district,” said Millet.